Chapter 857: Extinguish Wang Chen

Thousands of souls swept by at a low altitude, a vast and mighty force. Wherever they passed, be it the golden fire lotuses descending from the sky or the flames seeping from cracks in the ground, everything was thoroughly plundered.

Zhou Yuan stood in the void, gazing at the Fire Gathering Platform positioned at the center of his forces. Within the red orb, the golden flames burned with increasing intensity, and the amassed golden fire lotuses now numbered over ten thousand.

Zhou Yuan nodded, pleased with the collection speed.

However, his gaze soon shifted to the distant rear, where over a thousand souls led by Wang Chen trailed them like ghosts, never drawing close but never departing either.

A glint of coldness flickered in Zhou Yuan's eyes. He knew Wang Chen's objective was to monitor their every move, but for some reason, he had a subtle feeling that something was off.

"Qiushui, how long have we been inside the Heaven Flame Cauldron?" Zhou Yuan suddenly asked.

Yi Qiushui, who was beside him, immediately replied, "By my calculations, it's been nearly a day."

Zhou Yuan lightly tapped his finger and slowly said, "By this time... even with their large numbers, the Fire Pavilion should have fully equipped all their members with Red Copper Umbrellas, shouldn't they?"

Yi Qiushui nodded slightly. "Almost."

"Then why haven't we seen any sign of the Fire Pavilion's main forces yet?" Zhou Yuan's eyes flickered.

Yi Qiushui was taken aback, a flicker of unease crossing her eyes. Indeed, if the Fire Pavilion had their Red Copper Umbrellas, they should have moved to eradicate them at once. Why the prolonged silence, and why only send a thousand people to tail them?

What exactly was Lu Xiao planning?

Zhou Yuan's eyes glinted. After a moment, he decisively declared, "Whatever Lu Xiao's intentions, let's deal with Wang Chen's group first!"

This group had been lingering in his sight for too long; he wouldn't feel right if he didn't confront them.

Yi Qiushui's slender eyebrows furrowed. "But Wang Chen is extremely cautious. He's maintained his distance, and the moment we show signs of aggression, he'll immediately retreat with his people, only to resume trailing us later."

Zhou Yuan chuckled lightly. "Then we'll cut off their escape route, leaving them nowhere to run."

"How will you cut them off?" Yi Qiushui blinked her long eyelashes.

Zhou Yuan smiled. "Haven't you noticed that we're missing a few people?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Qiushui was surprised. Her keen eyes scanned their thousands of souls and indeed noticed that several hundred had seemingly vanished without her realizing. Her heart stirred as she asked, "When we encountered large mountains along the way, you intentionally lingered a bit longer. Was that when you sent people to hide?"

Zhou Yuan nodded. "We hid dozens of people each time. From his distance, Wang Chen couldn't detect a thing. So, he likely has no idea that his surroundings are already sealed off by me."

Yi Qiushui's eyes lit up with delight, and she lightly chuckled, "The Pavilion Master is truly cunning."

If Wang Chen's retreat was cut off, they would certainly be able to eliminate all thousand-plus of his men, thereby weakening a portion of the Fire Pavilion's strength.

Zhou Yuan smiled, then with a wave of his hand, the thousands of advancing souls immediately halted. He then turned first and shot forward towards Wang Chen and his group in the distant rear, his soul force whistling and causing ripples in the void.

Thousands of souls followed closely behind him, their momentum terrifying.

The moment Zhou Yuan moved, Wang Chen immediately detected it.

"Hmph, fool, do you really think I'd let myself be eaten?"

Wang Chen sneered and, without hesitation, ordered, "Retreat!"

Over a thousand souls immediately retreated swiftly, with no intention of engaging the Wind Pavilion in close combat. His mission was merely to observe and tie down the Wind Pavilion, not to fight them.

As one side advanced and the other retreated, a certain distance was always maintained, making it difficult to truly close in.

Witnessing this, Wang Chen couldn't help but burst into laughter, his gaze mocking as he watched Zhou Yuan leading the pursuit from afar. He felt the exhilaration of a cat toying with a mouse. After all, Zhou Yuan's reputation had soared among the Four Pavilions recently, his renown now on par with the other three pavilion masters. But what did it matter? Right now, Zhou Yuan was still eating his dust.

However, just as he was laughing, a sudden burst of soul power erupted in the void ahead, forming layers of invisible barriers that blocked their path.

Wang Chen's laughter abruptly ceased. With horrified eyes, he stared at the hundreds of figures appearing before them and gasped, "How is this possible? When did they get behind us?"

"Quick! Break through the soul barrier!" he roared.

Over a thousand souls attacked simultaneously, their combined soul power repeatedly striking the barrier ahead. The assault created sounds like wind and thunder, causing invisible ripples to constantly surge, but for the moment, the barrier proved impregnable.

In that brief moment, the thousands of souls led by Zhou Yuan had already caught up from behind.

Cold sweat broke out on Wang Chen's forehead.

"Deputy Pavilion Master Wang Chen, it seems you were still too careless," Zhou Yuan said with a faint smile.

As he finished speaking, he wasted no more words with Wang Chen. He extended his palm and lightly waved it.

"Annihilate them!"

Thousands of soul powers whistled forth simultaneously like a torrent, directly assailing Wang Chen and his group. With such an overwhelming advantage, Zhou Yuan needed no elaborate tactics; a simple, direct suppression would suffice.

Wang Chen felt his scalp tingle as he sensed the immense torrent of soul power. He hastily ordered his forces to unleash their own soul power to counter the assault.

*Boom!*

The opposing torrents of soul power collided with a deafening roar.

Beneath that thunderous impact, screams erupted from Wang Chen's thousand-plus souls. Their forms rapidly thinned and dissipated, before transforming into streaks of fire that shot skyward, directly expelled by the Heaven Flame Cauldron's protective mechanism.

After several rounds of attacks, only a few dozen souls from Wang Chen's original thousand remained, struggling to hold on, a truly desolate sight.

Wang Chen watched the scene, clenching his teeth, his face grim.

"Zhou Yuan, don't get ahead of yourself! When the Fire Pavilion's main forces arrive, you'll be weeping!"

Zhou Yuan's expression remained calm. He stared at Wang Chen for a long moment before suddenly saying, "Actually, you weren't here just to keep watch, were you? Lu Xiao deliberately sent you to make me believe the Fire Pavilion was coming for me immediately. You wanted to stall me?"

Wang Chen's pupils contracted slightly.

Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed. "What is Lu Xiao planning?"

Wang Chen sneered but remained silent.

Zhou Yuan paused for a moment, then slowly stated, "The Fire Pavilion joined with the Mountain Pavilion to wipe out the Forest Pavilion, didn't you? And once the Forest Pavilion is dealt with, then it's our Wind Pavilion's turn?"

Wang Chen's heart jolted, and a flicker of horror appeared in his eyes.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuan understood everything. His expression hardened slightly. He hadn't expected Lu Xiao to be so cautious. Even when facing the Wind Pavilion, which was weaker in overall strength than the Fire Pavilion, Lu Xiao hadn't launched a direct assault. Instead, he planned to ally with the Mountain Pavilion to deal with the Forest Pavilion first.

Once the Forest Pavilion was eliminated, the Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion would combine forces, and under such overwhelming power, none of Zhou Yuan's tactics would be enough to turn the tide.

After suffering previous setbacks, that fellow had become incredibly cautious, as steady as an old fox.

He had sent Wang Chen to deliberately keep an eye on them, likely intending to use this as a delaying tactic. After all, anyone being watched would assume the Fire Pavilion's main forces were about to arrive. But who would have thought Lu Xiao would do the exact opposite, abandoning an initial assault on the Wind Pavilion and instead turning his attention to the Forest Pavilion...

Beside him, Yi Qiushui and Ye Bingling's expressions also turned grim. They understood clearly that if the Forest Pavilion were eliminated first, the Wind Pavilion simply wouldn't have the strength to withstand the combined might of the Fire and Mountain Pavilions.

Seeing that Zhou Yuan had seen through his ruse, Wang Chen no longer bothered to conceal anything, scoffing, "Zhou Yuan, you greatly underestimate Pavilion Master Lu Xiao. Once the Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion deal with the Forest Pavilion, you will surely lose!"

Zhou Yuan's expression remained unperturbed. Invisible soul flames gathered in his palm. With a flick of his finger, the soul flames shot forth, directly engulfing the dozens of souls, including Wang Chen.

As the soul flames burned, Wang Chen's and the other souls rapidly became ethereal.

"Zhou Yuan, your Wind Pavilion is doomed to lose!"

Wang Chen roared. The next moment, his and the remaining souls transformed into streaks of fire that shot skyward, vanishing into the void.

Zhou Yuan's expression remained indifferent as he turned his gaze away. Thousands of Wind Pavilion members were watching him, awaiting his command. Without hesitation, he swept his hand and issued a thunderous order.

"Cease collecting Heaven Sun Flame."

"Immediately assist the Forest Pavilion."

"Annihilate the Fire and Mountain Pavilions!"

As his voice faded, his soul had already shot through the air, with thousands of souls following mightily in his wake.

Meanwhile, outside the Heaven Flame Cauldron, countless eyes were fixed on the activities within. When they witnessed this turn of events, they were all somewhat surprised. It seemed Zhou Yuan had already uncovered the Fire Pavilion's scheme. The impending clash between the Four Pavilions would undoubtedly be the most spectacular moment of the Heaven Flame Ritual.